System of distribution



Aug. 25 1925., 1,550,721

1 E. J. VON HENKE SYSTEM OF DISTRIBUTION Original Filed March 19, 1919 INVENTOR BY %T0RNJS if Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEw EDMUND J. VON HENKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SYSTEM OF DISTRIBUTION.

Application filed March 19, 1919, Serial No. 283,627. Renewed January 31, 1925.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMUND J. VON HENKE, a citizen of the United States, and residing at 5 Northern Avenue, New York city, in the county and State of New York, and whose post office address is the same, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Systems of Distribution, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to systems of distribution of electrical power, and particularly to systems for use in welding, heating and otherwise treating metals by electricity.

An object of my invention is toproduce a system for the above purpose in which the current for welding may be varied at will while maintaining substantially constant power factor at all current values. Another object of my invention is to produce a system of the above character in which one or more operators can operate simultaneously, each operating at a high and substantially constant power factor. Another object of my invention is the provision of means for securing the above objects.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent upon reading the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a complete diagrammatic showing of one embodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 2 shows a modification thereof.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 are power mains feeding the primary 3 of the transformer. The secondary 4c of the transformer may be wound in any way to give the proper voltage reduction. Connected with the secondary are conductors 5 and 6. The conductor 6 is connected to welding tables 7 and 8 by means of conductors 9 and 10 respectively. The conductor 5 connects with a conductor 11 which connects together one end of a plurality of circuits 12-23 inclusive. Each of the circuits 12-23, Fig. 1, has therein a switch 2485 inclusive. A plurality of the switches 24e35 are connected to a conductor 36 and a plurality of said switches are connected to a conductor 37. The conductors 36 and 37 may be connected together by means of aswitch 38, as hereinafter explained. The conductor 36 is connected to an electrode 39 by means of a conductor 40, and the conductor 37 is connected to an electrode 41 by means of a con ductor 42..

It has been contended heretofore that in order to weld with alternating current, a large amount of reactance is necessary, it being contended that the reactance drop must substantially exceed the voltage drop across the arc. The result of such a construction is a very low power factor. I have by experiments determined that a large 1nductive drop is not necessary. I have learned that the inductive component need not exceed the drop across the are but that satisfactory operation may be secured when the inductive drop and the drop across the are are substantially equal.

It is well known that in the practical art it is a fact that the amount of current used varies considerably depending upon the nature of the work being done, and it is one of the objects of my invention as above stated to devise a system whereby the power factor of the welding circuit may be maintained at a high value and substantially constant notwithstanding such changes in welding current for various kinds of work. This result I have accomplished by the means which I will now describe.

Each of the circuits 12-23 inclusive has therein a reactance 43 and a resistance 4 This reacta-nce and resistance are so proportioned in each of the circuits as to give the power factor of that circuit the desired value. The reactances and resistances in the various circuits are designed so that the voltage drop across the reactance 4:3 and that across the resistance 14 are substantially equal to each other, and also preferably the voltage drop across each of these reactances and resistances is equal to the drop across the arc. The welder circuit has a power factor of approximately .9. The reactance 43 and the resistance 4% can be of any suitable construction and the resistance may reside in the winding of the inductance coil as long as the desired voltage drop due to resistance component is present. Likewise it is obvious that the reactance 43 may be either inductive or condensive.

In order to provide for suitable currents for various work, the circuits 1223 inclusive are arranged to normally pass currents of different values and are also so designed that the current from the lowest to the highest value can be secured in gradual steps; for instance, as a matter of illustration, the circuits 12 and 13 are designed to carry a normal current, of 5 amperes each; the circuit 14 normally carries 15 amperes; the circuit 15, 3O amperes; the circuit 16 6O amperes and the circuit 17, 120 amperes. Circuits 18 and 19 may be the same as 12 and 13 respectively; 20 the same as 1 1-; 21 the same as 15; 22 the same 1G, and 23 the same as 17. In this manner there are provided two similar groups of parallel circuits, one group comprising the circuits 1217 and the other comprising the circuits 18-423, said groups being adapted to be separated from each other by the switch 38. The first group is connected to the electrode 39 through the conductor -l-O and the second group to the electrode 11 through the 0011- ductor 4-2. All of the circuits 12-23 inclusive may be connected to either of the elec trodes 39 or 4:1 by closing the switch 38.

It will be seen from the values above given that any amperage from 5 to may be secured in steps of 5 amperes each from the circuits 12-17 inclusive and that double the amount of current may be secured by closing the switch 38 before using one of the electrodes 39 or 11. Since each of the circuits 12-23 inclusive is designed to give the same power factor, it will be evident that by means of taking the total welding current from the plurality of these circuits in parallel, a power factor will be secured in the whole system substantially equivalent to the power factor of the individual circuits so that by means of the system above outlined, a welding current from 5 to 4170 amperes may be secured at a power factor of about .9 through that range. Obviously such a result is highly desirable and beneficial respecting the current demand on the supply circuit.

Any number of groups of multiple circuits may be installed or used from one transformer. Likewise the number of in dividual circuits in these groups may be changed to suit conditions as well as the current capacity of said circuits so that with the idea above disclosed, any variation may be secured to suit special conditions while at the same time a circuit of high power factor may be likewise maintained throughout the range, whatever that may be.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, the switches 4-5 and 46 corresponding to switches 2i and in the circuits 12 and 13 of Fig. 1, have been mounted directly upon the electrode holder and may be of any well known variety. By this arrangement the available current at the electrode may be varied by the operator an amount equal to the current value of the circuits 12 and 13 without the necessity of the operator going to the switcln board and closing or opening the switches of the individual parallel circuits. lhe arrangen'ient of Pi 2 is exactly the same as that of 1 in principle, merely putting the switches on the electrode handle for the convenience of the operator. Obviously the switches 15 and 16 may be that of any of the other circuits instead of the circuits 12 and 13, or any number of the circuits 1217 may extend to the electrode handle instead of only two of said circuits. This arrangement is particularly useful at the beginning of operation as it usually requires a somewhat higher current at the beginning of the welding operation than is required after the work has become heated due to the welding operation. After the work is heated and a smaller current is desired, one or both of the switches 4:5 or 46 may be opened to decrease the current 5 or 10 or more amperes as the case may be. This may be accomplished without the necessity of the operator leaving the work, breaking the arc and manipulating the switches 2 1 3'") usually placed on a convenient switchboard. Obviously, the welding current may again be increased by closing the switches 15 or 16 as occasion requires.

i Vhen both welding tables are being used simultaneously it is preferable that the switch 88 be open.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that many combinations of circuits and groups of circuits may be worked out to meet almost any practical conditions, and I do not desire to be limited to the exact arrangement shown.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent is:

1. In a welding system of the character described, the combination of a source of current supply, a plurality of circuits fed by said source, each of said circuits having substantially equal reactance and resistance values and being adapted normally to take a predetermined current at substantially the same power factor, and means for closing each of said circuits through an are producing means.

2. In asystem of the character described, the combination of a source of current supply, a plurality of circuits of substantially the same power factor, some of said circuits having a different current carrying value from the current carrying value of some of the others of said circuits at substantially the same voltage, means for opening or closing each of said circuits and means connect ing one side of said source to said circuits directly and the other side of said source to said circuits through are producing means.

3. In a system of the character described, the combination of av plurality of welding tables, a plurality of sets of parallel circuits, each circuit of each set having substantially the same power factor, means for connecting any or all of said sets to any of said tables and for connecting one of said sets to one of said tables, and a source of current supply connected to said tables and to a point common to a plurality of said circuits.

4. In a system of the character described, the combination of a plurality of welding tables, an electrode for cooperation therewith, means for supplying welding current to said electrode comprising a plurality of multiple circuits of differing admittance but of substantially equal power factor, and means in each of said circuits for connecting it into said welding circuit.

5. In a system of the character described, the combination of a source of alternating welding current, one side of which is adapted to be connected to the work to be welded, a plurality of parallel paths, means connecting one end of a plurality of said paths together, means connecting the other end of a plurality of said paths together, means connecting the other side of said source to one of said means, means connecting the other of said means to a welding electrode, and means for opening and closing each of said parallel paths, said parallel circuits having approximately the same power factor and different normal current capacity and an inductive voltage drop not substantially exceeding the voltage of the are.

6. In a system of welding, the combination of a source, a plurality of groups of parallel welder circuits each having impedance and resistance therein, means for connecting one end of all of said circuits together, means connecting the other end of all of said circuits together, means connecting one side of said source to one of said connecting means, a switch in one of said connecting means and means connecting one side of all the circuits of one of said groups of circuits to the other side of said source through an arc.

7. In a system of distribution of power for welding or otherwise treating metals by electricity of the type in which there is a source, a metal to be treated and an electrode, the combination of means for delivering current to the electrode in varying amounts at a constant power factor obtained by a plurality of circuits each of the desired power factor, adapted to be used singly or in parallel, each circuit taking approximately a predetermined constant current and having an inductive voltage drop not substantially greater than the voltage of the arc.

8. A system of the character of that set forth in claim 7, in which there are a plurality of groups of parallel circuits, each of which groups is adapted to be connected in a welding circuit, and means for con necting a plurality of the groups together to form a single circuit of large current capacity.

9. A welding system of the type in which one side of the source is connected to the work and the other side to an electrode, a means for varying the amount of current supplied to the arc which means consists of a plurality of individual circuits each having resistance substantially equal to twice the reactance to give an equal power factor in each circuit, and means for connecting said circuits in parallel to increase the current capacity of the system while maintaining the power factor substantially constant.

10. A system of the character of that set forth in claim 9 in which there are switches in the individual circuits, one of which switches is on the electrode handle.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

EDMUND J. VON HENKE. 

